Economy and Business
USS Excess
Wall Street’s Speed Freaks
The power suits making billions off the stock market are always trying to assure us that their trading serves a socially redeeming purpose. They steer money to companies and industries that make our economy more productive, they claim.
Grassroots Victory
A coalition of some of the world’s biggest and greediest corporations, which lobbied to shift their tax burden from themselves to America’s fast-disappearing middle class, is no more.
Shortchanging America
Verizon shareholders gathering in Huntsville, Alabama at the company’s annual meeting on May 3 will be greeted by large crowds of protesters. The nation’s second-largest telecom company became the latest target of the 99 Percent Power campaign — a national network of grassroots and national advocacy organizations — by demanding huge concessions from workers, avoiding state and federal taxes, and lavishing its CEOs with bloated pay packages.
The Class of 2012’s Choice
Millions of college graduates will soon walk across the stage to accept their diplomas. Given the harsh reality of today’s economy, here’s the commencement speech I’d like to deliver to the class of 2012.
Walmart’s Arrogance
The New York Times recently dropped a bombshell about Walmart, the world’s largest retailer and biggest private U.S. employer. The Times revealed that in 2005, an internal Walmart investigation found evidence that its rapidly growing Mexican affiliate had distributed $24 million in bribes to speed approval of new stores by government officials. Rather than pursue the evidence or alert U.S. and Mexican authorities as required by law, Walmart shut down the investigation.
Graduating into Debt
The War on Mommies
The so-called “mommy wars” are heating up again. Once more, we’re seeing stay-at-home moms supposedly pitted against working moms during an election year.
This Economy Stinks Worse than You Think
David Kocieniewski just won the Pulitzer Prize for his in-depth reporting on the loopholes that the richest Americans and corporations routinely exploit to minimize their tax bills. Congratulations to him! But most of his counterparts covering economics and business are a bunch of lapdogs.
Pothole Nation
Overall, U.S. infrastructure spending has declined dramatically. Back in 1968, federal outlays for basic infrastructure amounted to 3.3 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Last year, federal infrastructure investments made up only 1.3 percent of GDP.
